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John W. Stanton
Photo: U.S. Department of State, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons45

John W. Stanton

American businessman (born 1955)

John W. Stanton (born 1955) is an American businessman. He is the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) and has led several wireless communication companies.2

From Wikipedia’s article on John W. Stanton (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Companies

Holdings

Stock this person has reported owning, from the forms officers and directors file with the SEC. See the biggest insider stakes.

Shares held

As of each latest filing. The line shows shares held over time.

Recent filings

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedWhitman College3
  • Date not recordedHarvard Business School3
  • Date not recordedNewport High School3

Stanton was born in 1955. A lifelong resident of the Seattle area, John Stanton attended Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

From Wikipedia’s article on John W. Stanton (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: businessperson.11

Wireless companies

Stanton was the founder and former CEO of Western Wireless Corporation, former chairman and CEO of VoiceStream Wireless, and former chairman of the CTIA.

He became the first employee of McCaw Cellular Communications in the early 1980s. He was COO and vice chairman of McCaw Cellular in the 1980s.

After he left McCaw he founded the company that became Western Wireless in 1992. From 1992 to 2005, he was the CEO and chairman of Western Wireless. He was the founder of Voicestream Wireless Corp. Between 1995 and 2003, VoiceStream Wireless had him as chairman and CEO as well, with that company renamed T-Mobile USA after an acquisition. In 2004, Stanton was inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame for his devotion to the industry. From 2008 until 2013 he was director and then chairman of Clearwire.

In 2005, he, Strive Masiyiwa, Bradley Horwitz, and others formed Trilogy International Partners. At the start, Stanton had a $295 million equity stake in Trilogy. In 2024, Trilogy announced that SG Enterprises, owned by Stanton and his wife Theresa Gillespie, had purchased all Trilogy shares and that Trilogy would be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.

He is also chairman of Trilogy Equity and co-founder of Trilogy Search Partners.

In 2006, Stanton's net worth was $1 billion. Stanton was listed as #840 in the Forbes 2007 "Richest People" study. His net worth was estimated at $1.1 billion. As of May 2025, he was listed as the 1,530th wealthiest person, with a net worth of $2.4 billion.

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Seattle Mariners

As one of 17 minority owners in the team, in April 2016, Stanton was appointed as the new CEO of the Seattle Mariners organization after Nintendo sold its majority stake for $661 million. Major League Baseball formally approved the sale of the Mariners to Stanton in August of that year. Stanton took over as control person from retiring chairman Howard Lincoln. Stanton became responsible for the Seattle Mariners day-to-day operations.

In 2019, the team had few wins, with Stanton arguing the metric to look at was player success within a long-term plan. In 2021, Stanton accepted the resignation of team president Kevin Mather, after Mather had confessed to manipulating the service time of Mariners prospects and made comments about the poor English-language skills of some of the team's foreign-born players. In a statement, Stanton said Mather's comments "were inappropriate and do not represent our organization's feelings about our players, staff, and fans."

In 2024, Stanton said he regretted that team manager Scott Servais learned he was fired through media reports rather than directly from the team. He also said that team spending must be sustainable over the long term, which led to some criticism that the team spends less than its competitors.

From Wikipedia’s article on John W. Stanton (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • CitizenshipUnited States12
  • ResidenceBellevue13

Stanton lives in Bellevue, Washington with his wife Theresa Gillespie. They have two sons.

From Wikipedia’s article on John W. Stanton (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the news

1 recent article from 1 outlet we read name John W. Stanton. We match the full name, and check the article also names one of their companies or that they are well known.

  • Meet the Press TranscriptsNBC News, leans left, Oct 11, 2026…Jerry Brown (D-Calif.), John Stanton, Rich Lowry, Helene Cooper and Jane Harman | Transcript March 15, 2015 — Admiral Mike Mullen, Sen.

Sources

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    Wikidata and SEC EDGARCostco, Board member
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    Wikidata and SEC EDGARMicrosoft, Board member
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